


Like a Doll

by evilwriter37



Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Dark Magic, Gen, Whump, hiccup!whump, puppet magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-08-10 03:24:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20128567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37
Summary: Hiccup begins suffering with seemingly no cause. Suspecting magic, the Riders call on Gothi. They have to discover who's torturing Hiccup and how to put a stop to it.





	Like a Doll

**Author's Note:**

> I've had a fever writing about the last half of this, so please forgive any mistakes, and I hope it turned out alright.

It started out small, like a sensation of being lightly hit by someone. Hiccup didn’t say anything. He thought it was strange, but it was even stranger to bring up with his friends flying in formation around him. They were out on patrol, and he’d rather do it without incident. He figured he was just imagining it. Or maybe it was just particularly windy today and the currents were making him feel tiny blows. So, Hiccup said nothing.

Though, one hit felt particularly hard in his back. He rubbed at it with a grimace.

_ Okay, so it’s not the wind. I must be losing my mind.  _ Hiccup hadn’t been getting enough sleep recently with the threat of the Dragon Flyers. Maybe that could be it.

An ache in his stomach like he’d been punched. It moved, went into his chest. Hiccup couldn’t keep in a groan, clutched at his chest.

“Dude, you okay?” Snotlout asked from his left.

How could Hiccup explain this to them? How could he even begin to explain this to himself? His breaths were quickening with panic, fear of the unknown. What was  _ happening? _

“Yeah, I just…” Hiccup grunted, feeling like he’d been hit in his right shoulder. “Actually, could we set down?” Better to be honest. “I’m not feeling quite right.”

None of the Riders argued. They came upon a sea stack and landed over there. Hiccup dismounted from Toothless, rubbing at his arms as they became encased in pinpricks of pressure. He couldn’t figure out what was happening.

“Hiccup, what’s up?” Astrid slid off of Stormfly, came over and put a hand on his shoulder.

“I don’t… I don’t know.” 

“Then why’d you make us land?” Tuffnut asked, sounding annoyed.

Hiccup shook his head. “No, no. Something’s  _ wrong.  _ I just can’t figure out what’s causing it.” He looked himself over, as if that would give an explanation. “It feels like someone’s hitting me.”

“Well, it’s definitely not me,” Ruffnut said.

“Or me,” Snotlout added.

Hiccup sighed. “I know it’s not. I- ow!” He doubled over, feeling like he’d been punched hard in the stomach. He was going to straighten, but the feeling of another blow sent him to the ground. He groaned, pressed his face into the grass, breathing hard. Toothless rumbled in concern, nuzzled at his back. His friends moved quickly and were all around him. Fishlegs laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Hiccup! Hiccup, what is it?” Fishlegs cried. 

“Feels like someone punched me. I don’t… I don’t get it.” How was this happening to him? What even was this? He wanted to try his best to stay calm, but it was impossible in a situation like this, when he was hurting and didn’t know why.

Hiccup yelped as it felt like a fist connected with his face. He clutched at it, expected to pull his hands back and find blood, but there was nothing. He looked to his friends in a panic.

“Guys, something’s wrong. Something’s seriously wrong.”

“Or you could be faking it for attention,” Ruffnut suggested.

“Ruffnut!” Astrid cried. “Why would Hiccup even do that? Besides, we’ve all seen him act and he’s terrible at it.”

“Okay. Guess you have a point.” Ruffnut frowned. “Then what’s going on?” She directed the question at Hiccup like he would have an answer.

“Why are you looking at me like I know?” Hiccup asked. He gave a cry, an invisible fist connecting with his teeth. He put a hand to his mouth, expecting to spit up blood and maybe a tooth, but again, there was nothing. He whined in terror and distress. “W-we need to get back to the Edge.”

“Are you okay to fly?” Astrid asked.

“Think so,” Hiccup said. He rolled onto his back, accepted the giant Night Fury tongue that ran over his face. Then his friends helped him to his foot and his prosthetic, and he hurried onto Toothless’ back before he could feel the next blow.

It landed right on his jaw and he cried out, clutched at his face. The blows were landing harder now, and had they been real, there would have definitely been blood.

His friends looked at him in worry, but Hiccup just gave them the hand signal to take off, and they did. 

The flight back, though not very long, wasn’t pleasant. He experienced more punches, ones that would draw cries from him and make him double over and groan. Though, despite the situation, the twins were making jokes, and Hiccup was happy to listen to them and laugh along with everyone else, pretend that everything was normal.

Laughing at one joke was interrupted. Invisible fingers clamped around his throat, cutting off his voice, his breath. He grabbed at air, trying to pry those fingers off, but there was nothing to hold onto. His friends were still laughing, not noticing his distress. Panicking, terror and adrenaline gushing like lava through his veins, he tried to scream, but nothing came out but a squeak. He tried to kick his legs but they were firmly in the stirrups, and if he got out of those he would surely fall off of Toothless. 

_ “Help me!”  _ Hiccup mouthed desperately.  _ “Help!” _

His friends had finally taken notice. 

“Hiccup! Hiccup, what’s wrong?” Snotlout flew over, as close as he could without Toothless’ and Hookfang’s wings colliding. 

Hiccup pointed desperately to his throat, clawed at the air around it, trying so hard to get rid of those invisible fingers blocking his breathing. His heart raced madly, like it was attempting to escape his body. He began to feel faint, his vision pulsing in and out.

_ No, no! Can’t faint!  _ If Hiccup fainted while riding Toothless, they’d both fall out of the sky. His dragon was dependent on him being in the saddle.

His lungs and throat burned and ached. There was nothing physically hindering him, so why couldn’t he just  _ breathe?! _

Fishlegs pulled up above him on Meatlug, and then was carefully climbing down and hopping onto Toothless behind Hiccup. He felt over Hiccup’s chest, his throat, and Hiccup was grateful that he was there, but he just wanted it to  _ stop _ .

“Uh, I can’t find any blockage!” Fishlegs cried.

Hiccup sank backwards into Fishlegs’ arms, his chest convulsing as his lungs tried to find air, the skin around his neck pulling in with it. He met Fishlegs’ eyes, his gaze wild and panicked. He was dying, wasn’t he? He was dying and he didn’t know why.

Just as Hiccup’s eyes began to flutter closed, the hand left and his breath came back to him. He loudly gulped in air, relief flooding through his whole body. He was dizzy with the return of oxygen, and he closed his eyes, taking in huge, wheezing breaths to fill his tortured lungs. 

“Oh, you’re breathing again,” Fishlegs said. “Thank Thor!”

“What the Hel was that?” Ruffnut questioned.

Unable to talk, still reveling in the gift that was air, Hiccup just shook his head to show that he didn’t know. How could he know? Just like the punches, there had been nothing physically there, yet he’d felt it anyway. Something was seriously wrong, and he had no idea what it was.

Eventually, Hiccup could breathe normally again, though Fishlegs decided to stay with him on Toothless, and he was perfectly fine with that, especially when the sensation of being punched resumed. Gods, he just wanted whatever this was to  _ stop _ . It’d gone from being merely annoying to all-out anguish that left him doubled over in the saddle, tears in his eyes, feeling like he was being beaten. 

When they got back to the Edge, Hiccup found that he could barely stand, shaky from the strangulation and the invisible beating he was taking. Snotlout and Fishlegs all but had to carry him to his hut, and once there, he quickly found his bed and curled up into a ball, not caring about his boot or his armor. He was scared and ready to admit it. This wasn’t anything normal, and he had no idea what was causing it. 

His friends gathered around his bed, and he was glad they were there, but they were all as helpless as he was.

“Hiccup, what should we do?” Astrid asked. “Is it subsiding at all?”

“No,” Hiccup groaned. It was like there was a hand pressing on his ribs, crushing them. He was surprised he didn’t hear crunching. He would have screamed, but it was like his lungs refused to fill up all the way.

The Riders looked between each other with fear and worry in their eyes. Hiccup just wanted one of them to  _ do _ something, but what was there to do?

“Maybe we should get Gothi,” Fishlegs suggested.

The pressure stopped and Hiccup was able to take harsh, wheezing breaths. He held his hand out towards him to stay him, afraid he would leave.

“No, no, you don’t have to get her. Don’t want you to fly all that way pointlessly,” Hiccup panted out.

“It’s not pointless.” Snotlout put his hands on his hips. “You’re in pain.”

“And what if it passes?” Hiccup asked. “What if by the time you get back I’m all better?” Even now he was beginning to feel slightly better. There hadn’t been any punch or other type of blow in a while.

“But there’s obviously something wrong,” Fishlegs argued.

Hiccup sat up. “Look, I’m starting to feel better alre-” He was cut off by sharp, stabbing pain in the palm of his left hand, right in the center. He screamed, grabbed at his wrist, looked at his hand, but there was nothing to view save for his twitching fingers - no bruises, no blood, no indication of an injury. 

The invisible knife stabbing him twisted, then pierced all the way through the other side of his hand. He fell onto his back, writhing, clutching his hand to his chest and desperately hoping for it to stop. His agony nearly deafened him, but he got bits and pieces of his friends crying out, asking what was wrong.

“My hand, my hand!” Hiccup shouted. “Feels like it’s being stabbed!  _ Argh! _ ”

Astrid laid a hand on his shoulder. “That’s it. I’m going to get Gothi and Stoick. Guys, take care of him.”

Hiccup couldn’t gather the words to tell her not to bother his father. And then she was gone, leaving him with the rest of his Riders. He rolled on his bed, yelling, holding onto his hand like he was about to lose it. There should have been blood spattering, bits of bone flaking off, tendon and muscle ripping, but there was nothing.

“Hiccup, what do you need us to do?” Tuffnut asked urgently.

“Don’t know! Don’t know!  _ Agh-ha-ha! _ ” Hiccup’s voice climbed into a shriek as his other hand was stabbed. Tears gushed down his face and he was in too much pain to care about whether or not crying made him look weak. Good gods, did it  _ hurt. _ It… It felt like he was being tortured. Needlessly.

“Stop! Stop!” Hiccup shouted. “Make it  _ sto-o-op! _ ” 

“Uh…” Snotlout frantically grabbed at Hiccup’s hands, began rubbing his thumbs over his palms in circles. “That helping?”

Hiccup yanked his hands back. That had only felt like he was rubbing over open wounds. There should have been blood on his fingers from doing so.

“Don’t touch me! Make it stop!”

Hiccup knew his yelling was pointless. There was nothing they could do. He wasn’t just crying in agony, but in frustration, terror. Would this end? If so, when? How was he supposed to endure? What was  _ happening?  _ He just rolled onto his side, screaming and sobbing.

The knives twisted and twisted. Hiccup felt like he couldn’t scream loud enough to show the anguish he was going through. Then one was pulled out, pushed back in, again and again, like he was being repeatedly stabbed, violently. He choked on suffering, stared at the hand in question through misted eyes. No blood. Just trembling.

That knife went back in, stayed, and it was time for the other hand to face the same stabbing. Hiccup cried loudly, feeling absolutely helpless. What was there to do? He buried his face in his pillow, hands outstretched and shaking.

“ _ Ple-ea-ease!  _ Stop! Make it  _ stop! _ ”

His friends were talking, but Hiccup couldn’t interpret their words through his own screaming. He wondered if the pain would stop if someone just chopped off his hands.

The knife in his right hand was suddenly yanked out, and the pain stopped with it. The same happened with the knife in his left hand. Hiccup sobbed in relief, curling his hands into fists, rolling onto his side.

“Hiccup, is it over?” Ruffnut asked.

“Yeah,” Hiccup choked out. “F-for now.” He hated saying that last part, but he had to. What other tortures were going to be inflicted on him? And how soon?

“Okay, let’s get you more comfortable,” Fishlegs said. “Sit up so we can take off your armor.”

Still crying, but now quieter, Hiccup nodded, then was sitting up. His body ached, muscles having coiled with tension. Snotlout was taking his boot off for him, and Fishlegs was helping him with his armor. Once that was done, Hiccup laid on his back, trembling, panting. He had yet to be assaulted with anything new and it was such a relief.

“Anything else we can do for you?” Tuffnut asked.

“Just water,” Hiccup answered a little hoarsely. Emerging from the haze of pain, he only now realized Toothless was by his bed, looking at him with huge, worried eyes. Hiccup held out a hand to him, let him press his nose against his somehow uninjured palm. “Hey, bud. Sorry to scare you like that.”

“Yeah, you scared all of us,” Ruffnut said, planting her hands on her hips. She then rubbed at her forehead. “What the Hel is going on?”

“I don’t think any of us have a clue,” Hiccup said, petting Toothless on the snout. He wasn’t used to feeling this helpless, this scared. Usually he could figure out what was going on, had some sort of plan to fix it. Usually whatever problem he was in simply didn’t hurt this much. “I just… I don’t get it.”

“I’m sure Gothi will,” Snotlout said. “She, you know, knows things.”

Hiccup smiled a little and rolled his eyes. “Well put, Snotlout.”

Tuffnut returned with the water, and Hiccup sat up to drink it. It was cold and soothing on his throat, which hurt a little from screaming so hard. He hoped he wouldn’t have to go through that kind of agony again, or any like it, but he just knew that he would. Whatever this was, it wasn’t over.

  
  


“And how do we know if it works?” 

Krogan didn’t like the tone in Johann’s voice, the skepticism and distrust in it. Though, he sipped at his drink instead of jumping to answer him. Let Johann think he was unconcerned, which, he certainly was. This wasn’t his first time using this particular method since Viggo had mentioned it, and so far, it had worked without fail.

“We’ll know when the Dragon Riders show up without their leader,” Krogan said. “Which will happen.”

Johann shook his head. “So you think driving Hiccup mad is better than killing him?”

Krogan huffed. “Because your attempts at killing him have been  _ so _ successful.”

Johann narrowed his eyes. “Don’t pretend yours worked anymore than mine.”

Krogan gave a half-smirk. “Funny of you to think that I wanted him dead. Hiccup seems a fun toy to play with, does he not?”

“Oh, you tire of him after a while.” Johann was twisting one of his rings. “Always altruistic. So stubborn. Never giving up. It’s infuriating.”

“That would just make him all the more fun to break!” Krogan countered. “The more optimistic and tough ones always are.”

“And what would you do with him after he broke?” Johann asked. “Were he in your grasp?”

“Haven’t quite thought of that yet,” Krogan said. “Too focused on the little details I think.” He took another sip of his drink. This method was effective, and put the target through more agony than they could possibly withstand, but he was missing out on witnessing that suffering. Maybe, after Hiccup was driven insane, he could capture him and keep him around to toy with. He would love to hear him scream. At least he was still able to put him through pain from a distance. That was satisfying at least. “Have you ever heard him scream?”

“Not in pain, no.”

“A shame. I was going to ask you what it sounded like. Well, perhaps I can ask his friends when they arrive without him.”

  
  


Hiccup had a few hours reprieve, and in that time he ate and slept. He was almost too scared to sleep, but he didn’t know when next he would be attacked, so it would be good to get some rest while he could.

He woke to find Fishlegs in his room. He’d fallen asleep with Snotlout there. It seemed the Riders were taking turns watching him.

“Hey, Hiccup, how are you feeling?”

Hiccup sat up, yawned, rubbed at one eye. It was dark in his hut save for a lantern and a few candles. Night must have fallen.

“Okay. Just… nervous.”

Fishlegs laid a hand on his knee. “We all are.”

“But what if it was just a one time thing?” Hiccup asked a little hopefully. “I mean, nothing’s happened in a while.”

“Maybe.” Fishlegs scratched at his head. “I’m hoping, but we just don’t know. We don’t even know what that was.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely not normal.” Hiccup wasn’t used to this lying around in bed, even if it was just for a little while. It wasn’t often that he got sick, and if he did, there were still usually important things he had to do anyway. 

He looked down at his hands, rubbed at his palms, then the backs of them. No pain, no injury. He felt like maybe he’d dreamt the entire incident.

Toothless, who had been sleeping curled protectively around his bed, stirred, approached him with a questioning rumble. Hiccup scratched him under the chin.

“Hey, bud. Looks like I’m doing better. Sorry for scaring you earlier.”

“You say as if it’s your fault,” Fishlegs said.

Hiccup shrugged. “I kind of feel like I made the whole thing up. I mean, I feel perfectly fine now.”

Fishlegs shook his head. “You definitely didn’t make that up.”

It felt good to hear him say that, to have this strange experience validated. Yes, whatever had happened was real. He wasn’t crazy.

Hiccup reached for the book on his nightstand. It was the middle of the night, but he didn’t see himself going to sleep any time soon. He was an avid reader; it helped to entertain him and pass the time.

“Whatcha reading?” Fishlegs asked.

“Egil’s Saga,” Hiccup answered.

“Oh, I liked that one!” Fishlegs exclaimed as Hiccup settled down onto his back. “Have you met Eirik Bloodaxe yet?”

Hiccup nodded. “He’s quite the villain.” What was best about that was that he wasn’t real, unlike the enemies Hiccup had to actually deal with. It was debated whether or not this particular story was fiction or a historical account. Hiccup liked to think it was a mix of both. For one thing, there weren’t any dragons in it, and everyone knew those were very real.

Fishlegs had a book with him as well, and the two fell into silence to read. Hiccup liked it. It was a companionable silence, no conversation needed for them to feel a bond. That was something Hiccup very much liked about Fishlegs. He adored all of his other friends, but sometimes the talking got to be too much.

He was enjoying reading up until there was a horrible pain in his left eye. He dropped his book with a cry, went to clutch at his face. Toothless put his front feet on the bed, rumbling in concern. 

“Hiccup! What is it?” Fishlegs was standing at his side in an instant.

“My eye!” The pain just grew worse and worse. It felt like someone was  _ scooping out his eye.  _ He fell back against his pillow, writhing in agony, shrieking, kicking Toothless’ feet off without meaning to. 

Very suddenly, the pain stopped, but it left something in its wake: blindness. Hiccup could no longer see out of his left eye. Everything was just dark.

“Fishlegs, I can’t see out of my left eye!”

“What?!” 

Hiccup blinked it furiously, rubbed at it, but there was still darkness. Tears rushed to him. He didn’t want to cry again, but he was terrified by what was happening to him.

“It’s just dark!” Hiccup cried. Gods he was so scared. 

The same pain came to his right eye. Hiccup screamed, covered his face.

“No, no, _no!_ _Stop it!_ _Stop!_” He clawed at his cheek, his brow, like that would help, but all it did was cause him more pain, cause scratches on his face. He was ready to claw out his own eye if it would make the pain stop. Maybe if he didn’t have the part that was hurting, it just wouldn’t hurt anymore.

Before he could do that, the pain stopped, and he was left in total darkness. He shrieked in terror, rubbing at his eyes.

“I can’t see! I can’t see!”

He felt Fishlegs’ hands on his shoulders. “Hiccup, are you still in pain?”

He shook his head, sobbing.

“Okay, that’s good. That’s really good.”

Hiccup tried to turn his head towards the sound of his voice, staring at him sightlessly.

“But I’m  _ blind _ , Fishlegs!”

“Hiccup’s it’s okay. You’ll be okay. Astrid will be back with Gothi and your dad and everything will be fine.”

It didn’t sound convincing at all. It sounded like Fishlegs was trying to tell himself that too, not just Hiccup. He didn’t believe it.

Hiccup fell into his arms, crying hard, squeezing his eyes shut. There was no difference in the darkness that gave him. Ice traveled through his veins. It was like someone had torn out his eyes, and he was wondering when this would stop, and if he’d ever be able to see again.

  
  


Krogan dropped the pieces of the doll that had served as the eyes into the fire. The thing didn’t look much like Hiccup, was just a crude rendering of him, but what made the magic work was the tuft of auburn hair attached to its head. One of his Flyers had been able to get it from him in an attack, and he doubted Hiccup had even thought much of it, if he had even noticed.

He smiled at his work, at the gaping places in the face where the eyes should have been. The blindness would help to drive Hiccup mad. Maybe the Dragon Rider would even do the trouble of killing himself for him. 

It was the middle of the night, but Krogan didn’t want the pain to come at predictable times. He’d rested earlier, and so surely Hiccup had too. He wasn’t done with him yet. He looked to the set of long needles on the table before him, picked one up, and drove it straight through the side of the doll’s head.

  
  


Hiccup wanted to kill himself. Or for someone else to do it. By his own hand or someone else’s, it didn’t matter. He just wanted to be gone, so that he wouldn’t feel this pain anymore. Maybe he could just walk out of his hut and walk right off a cliff. There was no chance of him finding a weapon without being able to see, but there were plenty of cliffs for one to walk off of on the Edge.

They restrained him before he could even get out of bed. He’d been screaming, frothing at the mouth, ripping and tearing at his own skin out of desperation for the agony to stop. It was in his head, like spikes had been driven straight through him. There was blood and skin under his fingernails.

When the pain subsided he asked for Toothless. They’d put him outside, but now they let him come over to his bed and rub his nose against his face.

His friends tried to comfort him as best as they could. They rubbed at the palms of his bound hands, combed fingers through his hair, tended to the scratches he’d put on his face. Hiccup tried talking to them, but he knew most of what he said made no sense. It was just a lot of pleas for this to stop, even when the pain itself had. He couldn’t see still, and he was being made to hurt beyond human comprehension. Was death too much to ask for?

  
  


Stoick hadn’t known what to expect upon seeing Hiccup, but him being tied down to his bed by his wrists had been at the bottom of his list of expectations. There were scratches all over his face and neck that looked like they’d been done by human hands. For the moment, he was sleeping, but that didn’t keep his friends from sitting close watch around his bed, Toothless included.

Astrid ran over when she reached the top of the stairs.

“What happened to him?” she whispered urgently. “Where did those scratches come from?”

“He did it to himself,” Tuffnut answered tiredly. It didn’t look like any of them had slept in recent hours.

“Yeah,” Snotlout added. “He just got so desperate he started clawing at himself.”

Astrid had described to Stoick what was going on, about the strange pain that was coming from seemingly nothing, but he hadn’t expected any of this. His chest ached at seeing Hiccup like this. 

Gothi had come with them as well, dropping everything the instant she had heard what was going on. Now, she approached the bed. She tapped her staff on the ground two times, a sign for everyone but Stoick to leave. They hurriedly did so, taking Toothless with them just in case he would get in the way of the examination. He lowed mournfully, not wanting to leave Hiccup’s bed, but eventually, they got him to go downstairs with them.

Gothi made a gesture at Hiccup, signalling that she wanted him awake. Stoick went over to the side of his bed, gently laid a hand on his shoulder. No reason to startle him.

Saying his name and giving him a small shake was all it took for him to gasp awake and open his eyes. 

“Dad?”

“I’m here, Hiccup.”

His eyes went to him, then flitted right over him, like he couldn’t see. They fixed on the spot to the right of him. Stoick looked to Gothi, confused, worried. She leaned over Hiccup peered at his eyes. She waved a hand over his face, but he didn’t even blink, made no mention of the motion.

He was blind.

Stoick didn’t know why he asked anyway, though it was rather obvious. “Hiccup, can you see?”

Tears welled in his eyes. He worried at his lower lip with his teeth, shook his head.

“Hiccup it’s okay. Gothi’s here. She’s going to help you. Can you tell her what’s been going on?”

Having no indication of where Gothi was, Hiccup’s eyes stayed right where they were as he spoke. He told her of how the pain had come out of nowhere on a flight, how at first it had felt like someone hitting him and had quickly escalated into a full beating. He talked of the other pain too, and Stoick was actually glad that he couldn’t see him, that he couldn’t see the way worry and pain twisted his face at hearing his story. No wonder Hiccup had clawed at himself. The agony he’d been in sounded unbearable. If he hadn’t been blinded, he figured he would have attempted something much worse. Men who were tortured often wished for death, though he said nothing of that. 

Hiccup had dissolved into sobs by the end of it, shaking, terrified. Stoick sat in one of the vacated chairs, rubbed his hand over his shoulder, not sure what to say to him. Gothi was just looking him over, and then she took off the tooth necklace she wore around her neck, held it out over him like a pendulum. For a moment, it didn’t move. Then, Stoick watched as it began moving in circles, first slowly, and then erratically, as if by some force he couldn’t see. He tried to hold in a gasp. Whatever was hurting his son was magic. Dark magic. 

The tooth suddenly went straight up, pointing upwards towards the ceiling. With a gasp, Gothi yanked it away. It fell down, and she was able to put it back around her neck. She looked like she’d seen something she’d never wanted to. She made a gesture to Stoick to come and meet with her down the stairs, away from where Hiccup would hear anything if he kept his voice low.

“Hiccup, I’ll be right back, okay? Call out if you need anything.”

Hiccup simply nodded, and Stoick met Gothi on the bottom floor of Hiccup’s hut where all his friends were waiting. All of them jumped to surround her, asking question after question, wanting to know what was wrong with their friend. 

Gothi set her staff against the stairs, sat down on them, then held out her hands for everyone to give her some space. It seemed to silence them as well. She took out the little journal and charcoal she kept on her belt and wrote.

**He is under the use of a dark spell. Someone is using puppet magic on him.**

“Puppet magic?” Stoick asked as quietly as he could. Gothi’s words made him feel disturbed, made his breaths feel heavy. There was a pit in his stomach.

**He is someone’s doll. **

The room was heavy, and the shadows in the corners seemed to grow longer, reach out across the floor towards them.

“What do we do?” Astrid asked. “How do we stop it?”

**Find the doll** , Gothi wrote.  **Destroy it in fire.**

“Okay, so, um, how do we do that?” Snotlout asked, crossing his arms. “We don’t exactly know what this thing looks like or who’s doing it.”

**An enemy of Hiccup’s will have it. The doll could be anything made to look like a person, but it will have his hair on it.**

“ _ Johann. _ ” Astrid said the man’s name like a curse. “He has to be the one doing this.”

Gothi put the journal and charcoal away, next took out a pouch. She shooed everyone back with her hands, and Stoick realized she was going to cast runes for them to show which direction to head in.

She took the runes into her hand, carved into pieces of bone. She shook them up, then tossed them onto the floor where they clattered. Stoick looked at them curiously, though he was unsure of how to even divine what they were saying. Gothi studied them, then took up her staff, and pointed to the northeast corner. That was the direction they would go in.

“Northeast,” Fishlegs said. “Got it. So, uh, when we find this doll, should we bring it back here to destroy it?”

Gothi nodded her head.

Astrid looked determined as ever. “Okay. We’ll go find Johann and the doll. Gothi will stay with Hiccup.”

“I’m staying with him too,” Stoick said. The Dragon Riders would be able to handle themselves fine on this mission. He didn’t have it in him to leave his son while he was in this state. “I know you have this one.” He looked to each of the Dragon Riders, trying to instill them with will and speed. “Go.”

They left the hut just as Hiccup started screaming.

  
  


Hiccup was being stabbed all the way through his stomach and out his back with… a spear. Yes, it had to be a spear. Spears were long enough to impale someone straight through with.

He yanked hard on his restraints, wanting nothing more than to slit his own throat. Had Gothi figured out what was going on? If so, why was he still in pain?

He didn’t hear Stoick’s footsteps over his own shrieks, only realized that he’d joined him once again when he felt his hand on his shoulder.

“Hiccup! Hiccup, what is it?”

Hiccup couldn’t answer, couldn’t form words. He just bellowed out his agony, praying to the gods to make it stop.

The gods had a cruel sense of humor. The sensation of being stabbed over and over stopped, but then the spear was left in him, sticking him to his bed. He could have moved if he wanted to, but why move when that would surely make it hurt more. So, he stayed still and shrieked till he had no voice. There was nothing to do but lay there on his back with his mouth open in heaving breaths and stare sightlessly upwards.

Stoick probably couldn’t tell that he was still in pain, most likely thought he was in shock from it. That’s what Gothi seemed to think, as soon, blankets were piled on him. He didn’t know how to tell them that that only made it hurt more, that they were pressing on the gaping wound on his stomach. He should have felt slick with blood, but there was nothing.

While he was silent, Stoick explained what was happening to him. Hiccup didn’t know how to feel about the answer. Magic. Someone was using magic on him, to hurt him, to drive him insane. Could it be stopped?

Stoick explained that yes, it could, that his friends were working on it right now. Hiccup was glad then. This could be over. But how soon? How long would it take them to find who was doing this and stop them? How much longer did he have to endure this when he didn’t think he could?

Toothless rested his head on his chest. That was alright. It wasn’t his chest that was hurting. The spear had yet to be pulled from his stomach, making it impossible for him to speak. He wondered if he even had his voice, if words would work. Well, he ought to try.

“K-ki…”

“Hiccup, what is it?” Stoick asked, probably relieved to hear him speak, eager to fulfill whatever request he had. Though, Hiccup knew he wouldn’t fulfill this one, that no one would.

“Kill me. P-please… Please k-kill me.”

A gasp. Then: “ _ No _ .”

“Dad, please.” His voice was a rasp. He felt like he’d swallowed thorns.

“Hiccup, your friends are going to make this stop.”

Hiccup shook his head. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter because they weren’t making it stop right this instant, and it had to stop  _ now _ .  _ Please. _

“Gothi gave them a direction to search in. They think Johann’s responsible. It’ll be okay.”

“No!” Hiccup somehow found the strength to shout. Toothless pulled his head off of him at it. The effort had him breathing quicker. “Kill me!”

The pain. The pain was so awful. Yes, please, somebody just kill him. Make it quick. End it now. Right now. Please.

Hiccup found the strength to thrash again, to pull at his bonds like his life depended on it, except, this was the opposite. He needed to get free, had to act before anyone could stop him. His dad kept a knife on his belt. If he could just get to it…

The ropes were too tight. His friends could tie a good knot. He wanted to curse them, but he was too busy letting out hoarse screams.

Eventually, he lost his strength, was back to laying there, doing nothing and saying nothing. The spear was still through his gut.

  
  


It was hours before the spear was yanked out of him. In that time he had multiple fits of crying and thrashing and begging for death. Now, he was crying out of relief that the pain was over. Well, for now. He hoped there would be no more pain, that that was the last of it, that his friends would soon find Johann and whoever was doing this to him. He wanted them dead. Yes, he most definitely wanted them dead for tormenting him like this.

He didn’t apologize to his father for arguing with him about his own life and death. There was no point, especially since he might start crying for death again at any moment. 

But for now, free of agony and utterly exhausted, he slept.

  
  


Stoick could do nothing but watch Hiccup and despair. He wanted to hold him, try to comfort him, but he knew, after having had many arguments over not killing him, that that would be dangerous, even if he couldn’t see. The scratches on his face had proven it. The way he’d screamed and sobbed for death had proven it. All he could do was hold his hand as now, thankfully, he slept. He’d been conscious for hours, moaning horribly and gazing sightlessly at the ceiling. Any attempt to ask what he was feeling had been met with tears.

Above wanting the pain to stop, there was something else. Stoick was afraid that Hiccup was losing his mind. With the torture he was being put through, how could he hope to hold onto it?

He prayed to all the gods whose names he could remember that he would. Surely, he wouldn’t come out of this unscathed, but let him come out of it with his mind.

  
  


Gothi’s runes took them to a small island that looked to have a network of caves. Along the way, Tuffnut and Ruffnut had said they’d recognized this as the path to Johann’s hideout where they had rescued Hiccup right after Viggo’s death. So he hadn’t moved afterwards, even though now they knew where he was now. Astrid figured that it made sense. They’d been using the place as a base for probably quite a long time, and moving all the soldiers and supplies would be no easy feat.

The Dragon Riders arrived at night. Tuffnut and Ruffnut knew where the least sentries were. They were able to find that entrance, take out the sentries as quietly as they could, and sneak inside.

Johann and Krogan’s men had made the base as habitable as one could make a network of caves. Torches lined the walls and in some places some men, probably having been bored on guard duty, had even chalked art onto the walls. Some of it was mediocre while others were actually quite good.

Going through the caves was difficult. They had no intel to go on on what the inside looked like, and they didn’t know who they were looking for. Johann would be fortunate to run into perhaps, because obviously he would know whoever he’d set up to do this to Hiccup. The amount of guards also didn’t make any of this easy. Where they could, they snuck past them. Where they couldn’t, they were dispatched quickly and silently, then hidden where it would hopefully take a while for anyone to find them. They couldn’t risk raising an alarm. Even if they did, they couldn’t leave. They weren’t returning without that doll.

They came upon a large cavern, furnished with tables and decorated with fur rugs. By the smell and size of it, it most likely served as the mess hall. There were a few people still there, one of them Krogan. He had his back turned to the entrance, bent over a table, seemingly fixated on something.

Astrid pulled away from the entrance as quickly as she could. Luckily, no one had noticed them.

“What do we do?” she asked in a low voice, just above a whisper. She’d learned that the sound of a whisper would be easier to pick out than a low one. Besides, low voices wouldn’t be odd to hear in a place like this. “Krogan’s in there. He looked like he was working on something.”

“What if he’s got the doll?” Fishlegs asked.

“That’s what I was thinking.” Astrid peeked her head out around the corner, waiting for Krogan to shift, to give a hint of what he was doing. It would do no good to attack a place with so many people in it if the doll wasn’t here in this room.

He shifted, and she got a glimpse of what was in his hands: a crude doll made of a sack with a tuft of auburn hair sewn to the top of it. There were holes where eyes were supposed to be. A long needle was shoved through the bottom of the right leg. That was it.

Astrid crept back to tell the Dragon Riders what she’d seen.

“He has the doll.”

“How many are in there?” Snotlout asked, unsheathing his sword.

“Nine,” Astrid said. “Plus Krogan makes ten. He’ll be a better fighter than any of his men.”

“He might run,” Ruffnut pointed out. “He’ll know what we came here for.”

“Dammit,” Astrid cursed. “That means one of us has to go straight for him. The others will have to clear a path.”

“You should do it,” Tuffnut said. “You’re the better fighter out of all of us.”

The rest of the Riders nodded their heads in agreement, and so Astrid nodded as well. She’d never seen Krogan fight before, but she knew, just from size alone, he would be tough to beat. He was more than two heads taller than her, taller than even Ryker had been.

Astrid drew her axe, positioned herself to spring, and then the Dragon Riders were storming into the mess hall.

As they’d predicted, the men instantly tried to protect Krogan. Astrid uncaringly cut down the one straight in her path, went right for him. Krogan also did as they had predicted. He snatched up the doll, leaving the needles on the table, and ran.

Astrid followed him, leaving the mess hall and the sounds of fighting behind. There were no guards on this path that he was taking them down, and as they went farther, she realized, less torches, which meant less light to see by. He was taking her into an unused part of the cave system, but given how fast he was sprinted, he seemed to have used it before. It twisted and turned, and eventually came into total darkness. Astrid had to slow down, put her axe on her back, and hold out her hands. The more time he spent away from her, the harder he would be to find.

  
  


Hiccup had woken screaming with whatever he had left of his voice. He tugged on his bonds, wanted desperately to just clutch at his right leg. It felt like he’d been stabbed through the foot all the way up his thigh.

“Help me! Someone please help me!”

His father’s hand on his forehead. “Hiccup, your friends are putting a stop to this! I promise! I promise!”

“Help me! Make it stop!”

“I promise they’ll stop this!”

  
  


The tunnel sloped upwards, and the scent of trees hit Astrid’s nose. This led outside. She wondered why Krogan was taking her here instead of raising the alarm.

Though, when she got outside, she realized why. Sounds reached her ears now that they weren’t being hindered by pounds and pounds of rock: yells, horns blowing. The alarm had indeed been raised, and her friends were still inside. Krogan wanted to isolate her and fight her on his own. He thought he was enough to do it.

She found him standing by a pond, the doll held in one hand over it.

“Don’t come another step closer,” he warned. 

Astrid pulled her axe free.

“Put down your weapon, or your leader will suffer.”

“He’s already suffering.” Astrid approached him slowly, in a fighting stance. “What’s the plan? To drive him mad? Have him take his own life?”

Krogan chuckled. “Oh, you’re Astrid Hofferson, aren’t you? Viggo described all of you to me. He said you were smart and that you cared for Hiccup.” He crushed the doll in his fist. “Well, do you?”

  
  


Hiccup’s screaming was cut off as he felt like every bone in his body shattered. He wanted to lose consciousness but it felt like there was a hand clutching him and keeping him from it. He gasped for breath and thrashed, choking sounds and sobs coming from his throat. He just wanted this to  _ stop _ .

  
  


“Put it down!” Astrid cried, levelling her axe at him.

Krogan shrugged. “As you wish.” He dropped the doll into the pond. 

Astrid gave a warrior’s roar and rushed at him.

  
  


Hiccup couldn’t breathe. He felt like he was drowning, like someone had submerged his head in water. As someone who had drowned and nearly died from it multiple times, he knew what drowning felt like, and this was it. Someone was holding him under the water and he couldn’t breathe. He didn’t know if he could die from this. He hoped that he would.

  
  


Krogan had pulled his halberd from his back, used the part of the haft that was steel to block Astrid’s first swing. Sparks went flying into the night.

“Can he die from this?!” Astrid cried.

“No,” Krogan answered as he shoved Astrid away. He smiled. “But he is indeed suffering.”

That was good… not that Hiccup was suffering, but that he wouldn’t die from the doll being submerged in water. The doll wasn’t her priority then. Krogan was. If she turned her back and dove into the pond to get the doll, she would be killed.

They fought around the edge of the pond, neither able to get a hit on the other. Astrid began to feel the force of Krogan’s blows in her arms and shoulders, but she was trained for this, her muscles hardened, and she kept on. Hopefully he was feeling the force from her strength as well.

They traded blows. Astrid took a cut to her right bicep. Krogan took one to the back of his left hand. They came away from each other, trying to catch their breath, and then they clashed again. 

Astrid swung her axe at Krogan’s halberd as hard as she could, trying to hit the weapon instead of him. It cracked in half, and he stumbled backwards, looking at the two pieces in his grip. That had only slowed him, didn’t stop him, and he came towards her again.

As time went on and her breaths heaved and sweat dripped off of her, Astrid realized she needed extra help. She shoved Krogan away and gave her dragon call. They’d tasked the dragons with watching the entrance they’d come in by, but now Stormfly would come to her.

“Oh, that’s cute. You called for your pet.”

Astrid decided not to waste her breathe responding to that insult. Instead she had to block a swing that came at her with the piked end of the halberd. She managed to block that, but a blow came from the other end of the halberd in Krogan’s other hand. It hit her in the side, most likely cracked ribs, and sent her to the ground.

She laid there, vision blurred, trying to catch her breath through the pain. Her fingers were loose around the haft of her axe, and so her weapon was easily kicked away from her. She looked up to see Krogan raising his weapon for the finishing blow.

A spike impaled him through the chest, another in his throat. He stumbled back, dropping his weapons, blood spurting from the wounds. Astrid looked to see Stormfly land next to her, and she was washed through with relief. Krogan dropped to the ground, dying, and Astrid pushed herself up. Then, without a second thought, she dove into the pond for the doll.

  
  


Hiccup could breathe again. His right foot was still impaled, but he was too busy reveling in his new found air to really make a sound at it. But then that pain was gone too. Nothing hurt anymore, and he relaxed against the bed, breathing a deep sigh.

“Hiccup! Hiccup, can you breathe?”

“Yeah. Yeah I can.” He promptly fainted.

  
  


Astrid pounded into Hiccup’s hut on Dragon’s Edge, the rest of the Dragon Riders following her. The flight had dried her off, and the doll was held carefully in two hands.

“We got it!” she cried triumphantly. “We got it!” She ran up the stairs despite the pain in her side that breathing, and especially heavy breathing, was giving her. She held the doll aloft, smiling. Gothi and Stoick did as well. Hiccup was unconscious on his bed.

Gothi made a motion like untying something, and Stoick leaned over, went to untie Hiccup’s wrists. In the end, the knots were too tight and he had to cut them with the knife he kept at his belt.

Gothi made another motion, and Fishlegs translated.

“You should wake him for this.”

Stoick carefully took Hiccup into his arms and did so.

  
  


Hiccup listened as they explained to him the type of magic that had been used on him. Astrid let him touch the doll, hold it in his hands. He was careful with it, greatly aware of the fact that any mishap with it would cause him pain. He handed it back. Fishlegs translated from Gothi what had to be done. It had to be burned, and once that was done, the doll could never be used again, and he would regain his sight. Don’t burn it and lock it away somewhere, and they risked someone finding it and using it, and he would remain blind.

Hiccup very much didn’t want to feel like he was being burned alive, but he didn’t want to remain blind or risk the use of the doll again. He was glad to hear that Krogan was killed, so maybe anyone who would have wanted to do such a thing to him was gone. There was still Johann, but given the fact that someone else had been doing it, he himself probably didn’t know how. That was comforting.

“Do it.” Hiccup wanted this business to be done with. He was sitting on the lower floor of his hut where the fire was, his father having carried him down the stairs. Now, those familiar arms wrapped around him, pulled him into his lap, and Hiccup didn’t object. He wanted comfort through this.

“Hiccup we’re about to do it,” Astrid said. That was the only warning he got. Being blind, he couldn’t watch as they dropped it in, so he was grateful for the vocal cue.

The agony came almost instantly. He shrieked, writhed in his father’s arms. He didn’t know what he was trying to accomplish. For an instant, he forgot what they were trying to accomplish and almost begged for them to make it stop. They wouldn’t be able to though. The doll was in the fire, and so was he. He could feel it voraciously eating up his flesh to get to his bones. Oh it hurt! It hurt so horribly! He’d faced so much pain in the past hours, but this one for sure surpassed them all. He’d gotten small burns before, from the forge and dragon training, and the pain from those had been laughable. He had thought he knew what burning meant before this. He truly hadn’t.

It took a minute for the fire to eat all the way through the doll and for the spell to break. When it finally did, Hiccup fell back against his father, sweating, breathing hard. He opened his eyes and was met with sight. He didn’t smile though. He couldn’t. Not after everything he’d just been through. So, instead of speaking, or smiling, he watched the fire turn the doll to ash.


End file.
